Another iceberg in Jersey’s path

Here’s another reason the state is headed for financial disaster. We owe about $1 billion to municipal workers for not taking sick and vacation time — at least the time they claim they’re due. Record keeping is sloppy. When the time for public school employees is added in, that could be more like $2 million taxpayers owe. That’s based on a review of municipal and school budgets by the Asbury Park Press. You thought that was changed? In 2007 payout was capped at $15,000 for elected municipal officials and certain high-ranking administrators. But all workers hired before July 2007 were grandfathered into the old payout scheme. So, points out reporter Andrea Clurfeld, taxpayers will be paying it out of their property taxes for decades. Unless they get out of the state or the state goes bankrupt and a federal judge says this is a ripoff of the taxpayers and it is hereby ended. Lawmakers didn’t have the guts to do that. When they changed the system they should have said no vacation and sick pay is carried over, use it or lose it.

And for those banking it, they should have lost everything they can’t prove due them beyond a doubt and that should be paid to them at the rate they were making when they earned it not what they make when they retire. But then that’s something close to responsible and would have been a new direction.

Comments

About Bob Ingle

Bob Ingle is Senior Political Columnist for Gannett New Jersey newspapers and co-author of The New York Times' Best Seller, "The Soprano State: New Jersey's Culture of Corruption" and "Chris Christie: The Inside Story Of His Rise To Power". He has won numerous journalism awards and is often a news analyst on radio and television. Twitter @ bobingle99.

15 Responses to Another iceberg in Jersey’s path

just that they are allowed to cash out at todays pay rate instead of 25 years ago pay rate, is in itself CORRUPT, that the taxpayers must pay for this , is REVOLTING !!!…..i dont care if its “legal” especially if voted by these criminals in Trenton, we should not respect their laws they pass to benefit from…..WHAT EVER HAPPEN TO MORALS AND COMMON SENSE !!!
like i said a million times, we can all sit here and wait for the whole thing to crash and be left without a home or anything OR we can fight back and take control of OUR LIVES……without the money they steal from us THE MACHINE CANNOT EXIST !!!!…..STOP BEING AFRAID AND DO SOMETHING NOW , whats the worse that can happen, you still lose your house but at least you can look yourself in the mirror…… and heck if you go to jail, its free room and board and the teachers and unions who are left here in NJ will have to pay for your time in jail……sounds like a cant lose situation and i have learned, to never fight a person WHO HAS NOTHING TO LOSE and the situation in NJ has now become where most people have NOTHING TO LOSE……thats dangerous

About 10 years ago I worked for a private company that had great benefits, including the ability to carry over unused sick days. People would bank these for times when they might be out on disability or maternity leave, and it was a great benefit. However when times got tough the company simply announced that not only would this no longer be done, but that if you had banked any sick time then it would be gone, poof, and no longer be usable. That was the reality of the situation. If you didn’t like it then tough, you could just go work someplace else. The reality is that this was not standard practice among private companies. It was nice while it lasted, but it is simply not done anymore.

Sloppy record keeping? Really?
Not even the slightest surprise. How do you verify that a superintendent is “in”. He may be visiting other schools in the district, from his bed or another person’s bed. Honor system? Yeah and I got my doctorate from an “accredited” institution of higher online learning.

November 3rd is coming around time to vote them all out, since once voted out, at least you can build up.

The record keeping, especially for the “senior level” people is a joke. I can’t think of anyone outside of government and the education system who get these off the wall sick and vacation time deals.

The carrying over of sick and vacation time has been a give-a-away that should have been capped years ago.
No contract should have allowing things to get so out of control.

Based on all the people who seem to accumulate this time the immediate observation is that too many days are given. I’m sure , based on the ‘quality” of people we seem so hard to hire, that if the policy became “use it or lose it” that suddenly people would be sick the exact number of days they are entitled to have.

As always the people who sign off on these sweetheart packages don’t have to foot the bill.
” Our best interests” are not a consideration and all these overt and hidden perks turn out to be overly expensive.

There is such a thing as fair and reasonable. Parties on both sides can argue the extremes but there has to be people in charge who strive for that middle ground which is respectful of all the parties. Of course being NJ we seem overwhelmed with people who have alterior motives and unions that control key politicians. The best I can say is that others might just be in over their heads when it comes to negotiating.

From what I can gather,these people cash in years of sick time.How is it possible they never get sick?Are they super people?Why do we even give sick time and vacations they never use them.If they are truly sick,have them bring a doctors note,then they get paid.

in a couple of years all property in NJ will be owned by public workers and there will be no private sector. homes owned by private sector workers will have been sold a auction for non payment of taxes and a lot of them will have died off from disease since they could not afford to pay for health insurance too. these homes will be picked up on the cheap by public workers since they get nearly free health care and their unused sick and vacations will be waiting like a pot of gold for them along with their generous pensions (and COLA too). keep voting democrat folks and you will see i’m not dreaming this stuff up.

Bob,
The company I work for used to allow us to save our vacation (we don’t get sick days per say as we used to be able to be out sick for up to 12 months at full pay but that was changed to 6 months, still very very generous). About 15 years ago, they saw the writing on the wall and told everyone to take up to 2 weeks extra vacation every year until you used up all your saved vacation.

About this Blog

Bob Ingle, Senior Political Columnist for Gannett New Jersey newspapers, on politics in "The Soprano State".

The Soprano State (the Movie)

Debuted October 18, 2010

About the Author

Bob IngleBob Ingle is Senior Political Columnist for Gannett New Jersey Newspapers and co-author of The New York Times' Best Seller, "The Soprano State: New Jersey's Culture of Corruption." Hear him Fridays at 5 p.m. on www.tommygshow.com radio. twitter.com/bobingle99 E-mail Bob

Follow Me

Chris Christie biography

"Chris Christie: The Inside Story of His Rise to Power," written by Bob Ingle and Michael Symons, offers the first inside portrait of New Jersey’s governor, who in two years as governor emerged as a national Republican Party figure famous for his blunt public statements. The book details Christie’s combative public persona and deep family roots, tracing his improbable political rise from a bruising stint in county government to his anti-corruption crusade as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey. Chris Christie: The Inside Story of His Rise to Power goes behind the scenes to reveal his family life, his public life, and what the future might hold..

Buy the Book:

The Soprano State

"The Soprano State," written by Bob Ingle and Sandy McClure, details the you-couldn't-make-this-up true story of the corruption that has pervaded New Jersey politics, government, and business for the past thirty years. From Jimmy Hoffa purportedly being buried somewhere beneath the end zone in Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands, through allegations of a thoroughly corrupt medical and dental university, through Mafia influence at all levels, to a governor who suddenly declares himself a “gay American” and resigns, the Garden State might indeed be better named after the HBO mobsters.

Today is Friday, February 19th, 2016. Here's today's Daily Quickie calendar of what's happening in New Jersey politics -- the last of a 1,488-part series. Flags at state buildings are flown at half-staff today and Saturday to mourn the passing … Continue reading →

Here's the New Jersey politics calendar for Thursday, February 18th, 2016 ... Flags are flown at half-staff at all state buildings to honor Port Authority of New York & New Jersey police officer Elise Bastardo of Wall Township, who was … Continue reading →

On Tuesday, February 16th, 2016 in New Jersey politics: Gov. Chris Christie delivers the 2017 budget speech to a joint session of the Legislature, 2 p.m. in the Statehouse's Assembly chamber in Trenton. Assembly Democrats will be livestreaming their formal … Continue reading →

A very light New Jersey politics calendar heading into President's Day weekend on this Friday, February 12th, 2016 ... Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno attends the grand opening of the Plainfield Academy for the Arts and Advanced Studies, 1 p.m. in … Continue reading →

On New Jersey's political calendar on this Thursday, February 11th, 2016: Senate voting session, 1 p.m. at the Statehouse in Trenton. Among the 22 bills listed on the agenda: requiring companies to offer paid sick leave to employees, Port Authority … Continue reading →

On the politics calendar for this Wednesday, February 10th, 2016 ... Gov. Chris Christie returns to New Jersey after finishing in sixth place in Tuesday's primary in New Hampshire. He had been scheduled to go to South Carolina for events … Continue reading →

On Tuesday, February 9th, 2016, the big story in New Jersey politics takes place in New Hampshire ... Gov. Chris Christie's presidential campaign faces its first crucial test in today's New Hampshire primary. His polling average shows him in 6th … Continue reading →

On Friday, February 5th, 2016 in New Jersey politics ... Gov. Chris Christie's bus tour through New Hampshire takes him to Strafford Farms Restaurant in Dover for a town-hall meeting at 9 a.m., Timberland in Stratham for an employee town-hall … Continue reading →